Election Commission’s Ban On Rallies Extended Till January 31 With Relaxations For Phase 1 And 2

The commission had banned all physical rallies, roadshows, and padayatra to control the surge of coronavirus cases in the five poll-bound states- Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Goa, Manipur and Uttarakhand.

New Delhi: Amid a continuous spike in COVID cases in the country, the Election Commission on Saturday decided to extend the ban imposed on physical rallies and roadshows till January 31. The commission had banned all physical rallies, roadshows, and padayatra to control the surge of coronavirus cases in the five poll-bound states- Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Goa, Manipur and Uttarakhand.

Election Commission of India extends the ban on physical rallies and roadshows till January 31, 2022.#AssemblyElections2022 pic.twitter.com/emL7ypeCgt

— ANI (@ANI) January 22, 2022

The Commission held a series of virtual meets today to decide whether the ban imposed by it on physical rallies and roadshows to prevent the spread of coronavirus should continue, and it was decided as there is no major improvement in the COVID situation in the country, the restriction would continue till the end of the month, with some relaxations in areas where Phase 1 and Phase 2 of pollings are scheduled.

Relaxations Given To Political Parties/Candidates

As per the latest order, physical public meetings of political parties and contesting candidates for Phase 1 will be allowed from January 28, and for Phase 2 from Febuary 1. The poll regulatory body has also extended the limit of people aloowed for door-to-door campaigning from 5 to 10. Now, video vans for publicity will also be permitted at designated open spaces with COVID restrictions

The contesting candidates for Phase 1 elections will be finalised on January 27. In view of the same, the Commission has decided to allow physical meetings of concerned political parties or contesting candidates in designated open spaces with a maximum of 500 persons or 50 per cent of the capacity of the ground or the prescribed limit set by SDMA, whichever number is lesser, from January 28 till February 8 (excluding the silence period).

For Phase 2 elections, candidates will be finalised on January 31, therefore, the Commission has decided to allow physical meeting from February 1 till February 12 (excluding the silence period), with same curbs in place, as in Phase 1.

Earlier, announcing dates for assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Goa, Punjab and Manipur on January 8, the poll panel had announced a ban on physical rallies, road and bike shows, and similar campaigning events till January 15. However, when there was so significant change in COVID-19 situation, the commission extended the ban until January 22.

It had, however, granted a relaxation for political parties to hold indoor meetings of maximum 300 people or 50 per cent of the capacity of the hall.

The poll panel held the virtual meets to seek inputs from the Union Health Ministry, experts, the five poll-bound states and respective state chief electoral officers to arrive at a decision, official sources told news agency PTI.

Last week, the EC had also directed political parties to adhere to the provisions of model code of conduct and the broad guidelines of Covid. The ECI directed state/ district administration to ensure compliance of all instructions related to model code of conduct and Covid.

On January 8, the EC had listed out 16-point guidelines for campaigning as it banned ‘nukkad sabhas’ (corner meetings) on public roads and roundabouts, limited the number of persons allowed for door-to-door campaign to five, including the candidate, and prohibited victory processions after the counting on votes.